Volume 79 Number 2
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September 6, 2012
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ut.minaret@gmail.com
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theminaretonline.com
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blog.theminaretonline.com
Shift in Power: Student Government Reorganizes Cabinet By JESSICA KEESEE AND MIA GLATTER really close over the years. But I’m very
Associate Editor and News Editor
Allison “McKay” Ellis resigned from her position as vice president of Student Government in order to accept an internship with the State Department in Geneva, Switzerland. On August 28, 2012, SG President Matt Rutkovitz held an Emergency Senate meeting to reorganize the Executive Cabinet where former Speaker of the Assembly Kristen Anderson was chosen to replace Ellis as vice president. “It was a really hard decision, because Student government had been something I worked for for so long,” Ellis admitted. “I actually flew to Baltimore to see [Matt] in person. But Kristen Anderson is awesome and I think she is going to do a really good job.” Ellis originally planned to take the overseas internship during the summer of 2012, but the funding was cancelled, and consequently the internship too. She was then offered the same internship for the fall of 2012 and decided the opportunity was too good to pass. “It’s a Department of State internship in Geneva and I’ll be working in the political sector,” Ellis said. “I’ll be going to human rights conventions and talking to people and working with the UN.” “ I’m really excited but kind of sad at the same time,” Anderson revealed. “ I absolutely love McKay and her and I both work in the Office of Student Leadership together so we’ve gotten
honored that her and Matt picked me to be the VP position because I think that we have a lot of good ideas.” “We’re gonna miss McKay, she’s a great student leader but Kristen is definitely doing a wonderful job getting acclimated well, good with others and really good at delegating. She’s already doing a great job,” Rutkovitz said. With Ellis’s resignation and Anderson’s new appointment, the Senate has appointed Dylan Sellberg, former Director of Programming, as the new Speaker of the Assembly and Trevor Joenson as the Director of Programming. Although Ellis’ time in the office was brief, her journey to the position had more obstacles than expected. On March 30th, the Student Government Presidency and Vice Presidency candidates Rutkovitz and Ellis met with the Judicial Advisory Board to appeal the decisions made in Thursday’s meeting. In the meeting on Thursday, Rutkovitz and Ellis were disqualified from the race for violations of the Election Guidelines in the Student Government bylaws which states ‘Candidates must not act in such a manner that it places a voter under duress with regard to their vote’ and ‘Candidates should campaign positively. Candidates are representing The University of Tampa.’” Ellis later defended herself and Rutkovitz in a Minaret article asserting, “I think that there is a lot of speculation
and there is a lot of accusation towards our campaign and if you don’t know the truth, then there is no reason to talk about it. It was something that both of us felt that our names got tarnished and that in no way reflects who we are or what our campaign and our strategies and goals are.” Despite the sudden change in command, Anderson is optimistic about the success of Student Government this year. “We are very excited to move forward and do a lot of great things,” Anderson said. “Three of the main things that we want to focus on again that go along Yasaman Sherbaf/ The Minaret with Matt and McKay’s SG President Matthew Rutkovitz and Vice President Kristen Andercampaign are son look forward to new year. recycling, library hours and our Sherbaf and Chelsea Daubar. relationship with Reslife. We have a great Jessica Keesee can be reached at team established. We’re so excited about jessica.keesee@theminaretonline.com this year.” Mia Glatter can be reached at mia. Additional reporting by Yasaman glatter@theminaretonline.com
Democratic National Convention Backs Obama to ‘Move Forward’ The Democratic National Convention kicked off Tuesday evening with its opening ceremony of speakers, video presentations and caucus meetings. Supporters and distinguished speakers gathered at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday afternoon, preceding first lady Michelle Obama’s evening speech. The Honorable Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee and representative from Florida, opened the evening’s activities with a call to order. Remarks by DNC officials and a welcome video gave state delegates time to move through the security lines, soaked by rain and eager to find their seats. Following the trend of party support for GLBT issues, Andrew Tobias, treasurer
In Other News...
of the Democratic National Committee, spoke of his personal experience as a homosexual in his youth. “People killed themselves over being gay,” Tobias said. “Sadly, they still do.”
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News Editor for North Carolina State’s The Technician
who began by asking all the delegates to officially check in. “We are a convention that really looks like America — every race and every background,” Germond said. “We fight for
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By JESSIE HALPERN
“Together we can overcome the greatest challenges that come our way . . . we can provide opportunity for those aspiring to join the middle class.” - California Rep. Barbara Lee
Tobias continued to talk about the recent marriage of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank to his partner. “Love that had been unspeakable 24 years ago was being celebrated by senators and congressmen,” Tobias said. Tobias’ anecdotal contributions to the convention were followed by an order of business and party support by Alice Germond, secretary of the DNC,
3 New Students Reflect on Convention Craziness
5 UT Democrats Register Student Voters
7 Local Strip Clubs Profit from RNC Attendees 9 The Political Anthem that Couldn’t
the middle class and the American dream and that is why we support President Barack Obama.” Germond noted that since Obama’s inauguration, the country has added 4.5 million jobs in the private sector, had 29 straight months of job growth and given 18 tax cuts to small businesses. She also brought light to the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act.
“When others said it couldn’t be done, President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act which is already preventing the worse insurance company abuses,” Germond said. “As we gather as one convention, we stand together, women and men, the young, the young at heart, the gay, the straight…united by our love of America, determined to fight for the middle class and determined to create an economy from the middle out, not the top down.” By the end of Germond’s speech, all 56 delegates were in the hall. Though the focus of the evening’s speeches was on building up the Obama campaign, mention of his opponent, Mitt Romney, was not absent. California Rep. Barbara Lee rose loud boos and hisses from the audience when she spoke of the Romney campaign. “We will move forward, not backward,”
12 Romney’s Welfare Attack Ads are Racist, Desperate
See DNC, page 4
News..................................2 Diversions.........................6 A+E....................................7
19 Jason Witten’s Spleen and Other Fantasy Busts
Opinion............................ 11
Sports..............................17